Robo Cheetah Can Outrun Usain Bolt – Military Funds War Machine

Big cats are intimidating enough already, but imagine a headless mechanical one chasing you down. That’s the stuff that puts bricks in your underpants.

The team at Boston Dynamics who also gave us the mobile “robo dog” unveiled their latest video Wednesday of Robo-Cheetah, which is faster than the fastest man on the planet, Usain Bolt. The mechanical beast was only running at 18 mph back in February but has since stepped it up to 28.3 mph. Bolt’s top speed clocks in at 27.78 mph.

Thankfully, the robot uprising isn’t here just yet, as the robotic cat has to be tethered to a treadmill during its sprinting exercising to prevent stumbling over. While it’s still not quite as fast as an actual cheetah, which can reach speeds of 60 mph, 28 mph is more than enough to nip at human’s heels.

And what’s the long term purpose of these robotic beasts, you ask? Death and destruction, baby!

DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is funding this program in hopes of creating drones fitted with firepower.

Have we not learned anything from Arnold and James Cameron?! One minute it’s a few scientists working on a semi-innocent robot, the next we’re running for our lives as robotic skeletons and flying machine guns eradicate the human species. Oh well, that’s extinction… Via MSN